As I stepped out of the house with coffee in hand, I felt an unusual chill for this time of the year. All was quiet in the pre-dawn hour of my neighborhood and only the newspaper delivery guy was up at this hour. I hopped into my truck and made my way down to the beach to see if there's anything worth paddeling into. I arrived at my usual spot, just north of the power plant, and pulled into the vacant beach parking lot to get a better view.
It was still a dark out but the scent of brine was in the air which meant a new swell is gracing the coast line. I can hear the pounding of waves along the shoreline, in a consistent rhythm, which meant it's a strong and steady swell. A light offshore breeze added chill to the air making it feel more like late November. As the sun began to rise, I could see small rainbows glistening from the spray off the tops of the waves, created by the offshore wind. Seeing that nobody was out yet, I couldn't clearly determine the wave height but it seemed that the waves were at least head-high, and perhaps even bigger. Ray had just called and asked for an update and I reported the good news - load your gear and meet me at the lot as there are waves to be ridden!
By the time Ray met up with me, I had finished my Starbuks Bold and had my full suit on. I was ready to charge it ! I admit that it seemed strange to don a full wetsuit at this time of the year but this has been an unusually cool summer so far. We made our way down the length of the empty bike trail and turned toward shore at the jetty. After a few light stretches, we made our way to the shoreline. The water was crisp and not its usual warm late August tempature. We jumped right it and began the paddle out. With each stroke I took, I felt my heart beating faster as my excitement grew with anticipation of spinning my board around, and paddeling into my first wave !
My first wave came in off to my right. The peak is shaping up in a V format, allowing me to chose to either go right or left. I chose the left because unlike Ray, I love to backhand ! I paddled fast into it, dropped in and made a clean trimming line along a face of glass. I hit a fierce bottom turn, then shot right back up to the top of the wave for a clean snap off-the-top which threw spray at least five feet above the lip !
After about two hours in the water, I began to tire-out so I made my last wave count, riding it all the way to shore. After we made our way back to the lot, changing out of our wetsuits and into our civis, we headed back to my place. 9am and we were not ashamed to crack open a cold beer in celebration of a great surf session. Upon finishing his beer, Ray said "Hopefully the same tomorrow. See you then". By this time, the morning sun felt warm and inviting, so I made my way to the patio lounge chair to settle in and perhaps do some writing. At this point, I closed my eyes and wondered what to write about. My mood was neither somber or excited; it was subdued by the elements of the ocean, and the playful twists and turns I made earlier in the watery playground. Seems that I always find my mind drifting back toward the sea following a memorable surf session, stifling any hopes of placing my thoughts onto paper .....
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